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France Avenue traffic is forever snarled at Minnesota Drive and also at 78th Street.
I would think that dedicating the middle lane of France Avenue to access eastbound 494 could more evenly distribute the cars. This would ease up the traffic in the right lane to access Minnesota Drive and later 78th Street; leaving the remainder of the cars to have a dedicated access to westbound 494.
The issue starts in Edina and also is in Bloomington's territory. Perhaps it's all decisions made by Hennepin County, or maybe MnDot? All it really needs is to change the signage.

Through February 29, 2016, MnDOT is doing a congestion relief survey, seeking input and thoughts about how Interstate 494 and Highway 62 can be improved. You can submit your ideas here: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/i494and62study

Boston and other cities and towns in Massachusetts, New York City and the state of Hawaii (reported in today's Star Tribune - http://www.startribune.com/boston-hikes-age-for-buying-cigarettes-to-21/362864891/) have approved a new approach to discourage youth smoking, by moving the age from 18-21. While only the state can enact a ban on consumption, we can get the ball rolling by passing an ordinance that bans sales of tobacco products to those under the age of 21. Tobacco use has no beneficial effects and and tobacco is a gateway to use of illegal drugs and binge drinking, with their additional health and legal consequences. By making this change, it suggests that alcohol and tobacco are adult products which young people should not be experimenting wth and getting addicted to. Someday, if and when recreational marijuana is legalized, then there will be no question that the age limit should also be age 21. Obviously, those businesses what make significant income by selling tobacco products to those between 18-20 may not like this idea, but the city could respond by creating a lower license fee for stores that voluntarily don't sell to those under the age of 21, until the time when it is passed into city ordinance. As we are part of a health alliance with Richfield and Bloomington, perhaps their city council could be encouraged to take a similar action. If three cities neighboring cities were to do so, it would encourage others to do the same. This kind of proactive policy is exactly what forward thinking cities do.

The City of Edina should push for Local, State & Federal funding for Re-Establishing commuter passenger rail service from 494 to the Wooddale SWLRT Station along the Dan Patch Rail Line. This connected with a street car system along 50th thru to Southwest Mpls and North South from 44th to Southdale will help local business compete with MOA and provide family safe commuter travel for all ages to key services throughout the City and Region

We all recently read about the outwardly normal, but depressed Minnetonka business owner who used a shotgun to murder his entire family before taking his own life. These kinds of stories happen every day and could easily happen in Edina. What is to be done about these situations? I have an idea that just might help.

Mentally disordered, angry men with guns are dangerous to themselves and their loved ones. Some have protection orders placed on them, but that doesn't always prevent senseless violence from occurring. American men love guns and once they have them, they are reluctant to give them up permanently, but I suspect that many families know when having a gun present puts people at risk. For those men who haven't lost their gun rights, there is no easy way for them to put away their guns for safekeeping until they work out their mental health or anger management problems.

One solution could be for a free gun storage program operated by the police department. Citizens could be encouraged to bring in their guns for safe storage if they fear they will be used by a family member to take a life. Unless a crime is committed, the person would able to retrieve the gun after a cooling off period no questions asked. As suicide and murder are impulsive acts, simply not having a gun handy when the urge to use one violently occurs, it seems like it would lower the risk of gun violence in the city. While I do advocate more comprehensive measures to curb gun violence, this suggestion encourages responsible gun ownership.

Curbside Organic recycling for all residents. Similar to Loretto, Maple Plain, Medicine Lake, Medina, St. Bonifacius, St. Louis Park, and Wayzata, and Minneapolis. Backyard composting is great but not many do this, upkeep can be difficult, and you're limited on what you can compost.

Please, please, PLEASE do something to manage the taking down of old growth trees for development. We are not only losing trees to dutch elm, but many types of trees that were planted 50+ years ago have lifespans of 50+ years so we are also losing trees due to age. At least have a canopy requirement for replacement plantings. The vast majority of plantings after tear downs are ornamentals….the look and feel of our city will quite different with the beautiful old growth trees being replaced by ornamentals!

Next Century Cities is an organization for cities seeking to provide 1 gigabit municipal broadband. Is this something Edina is able to do? Would there be community support for it? Can Edina provide a service that scales with available technology faster than monopolistic industry can?

I am curious if I did a solar seminar if anyone in Edina would have any interest, I usually discuss rooftop solar, community solar options, and the global impact of our current energy mix vs. clean energy?